Watch and build with Rob

Watch the original video on YouTube. Pause whenever you need to. The chapter links below open the matching section on YouTube.

Gather your building kit

For the single-furnace machine, gather:

• 1 furnace
• 3 hoppers
• 3 chests to place in the build
• Fuel and a small test batch. Coal and raw iron are an easy pair to follow from the video. Rob also demonstrates raw cod and raw gold.

You’ll need a crafting table if you’re crafting the parts in Survival. Creative players can get the finished parts from their inventory.

1. Craft the basics

Already have your parts? Skip to the build. Otherwise, open these quick recipe reminders.

Chest: eight planks around an empty center

Fill the outside of the crafting table’s 3×3 grid with planks, leaving the middle empty. Two chest blocks placed together can make a double chest.

Furnace: eight cobblestone around an empty center

Use the same ring shape with cobblestone. In the furnace interface, the upper slot takes the item to cook or smelt, the lower slot takes fuel, and the right-hand slot holds the result.

Hopper: one chest and five iron ingots

Put a chest in the middle of the 3×3 grid. Place iron ingots at the top-left, top-right, middle-left, middle-right, and bottom-middle. Make three hoppers for the single machine.

2. Give the furnace a fuel supply

Place the furnace with room behind it, above it, and underneath it. Rob starts at ground level and digs below it later.

1. Stand behind the furnace.
2. Crouch and place a hopper against the furnace’s back face. The hopper’s small outlet should point sideways into the furnace, not down into the ground.

Crouch again and place a chest on top of that rear hopper. This is the fuel chest. Put coal in it, then open the furnace to check that coal is arriving in its fuel slot.

Rob briefly places an extra downward-pointing hopper to show the wrong direction, then removes it. That example is not a fourth hopper for your machine.

3. Add the input chest

Crouch and place your second hopper on the top face of the furnace, pointing down into it.

Now crouch and place a chest on top of that hopper. This is your input chest: items to cook or smelt go here. Keep fuel in the separate chest behind the furnace.

4. Catch the finished items

1. Dig enough room beneath and in front of the furnace to reach its underside.
2. Place the output chest in front, one block lower than the furnace.
3. From underneath, crouch and place the third hopper against the chest. The hopper must sit directly below the furnace, with its outlet pointing horizontally into the output chest.

That gives each part a job: top = items, back = fuel, underneath = finished results.

5. Try a small batch

Put coal in the rear chest and a few raw iron items in the top chest. Watch for the furnace to light up. Then open the lower output chest and look for iron ingots.

The input chest queues the work; one furnace processes one item at a time. You can also try raw cod or raw gold, as Rob does in the video.

Pause and celebrate: you’ve connected the whole journey from input to storage. If something stays put, check the hopper directions before adding decoration.

6. Ready for two furnaces?

Add 1 more furnace, 3 more hoppers, and 3 more chest blocks. The finished build has 2 furnaces, 6 hoppers, and 3 double chests.

1. Place the second furnace beside the first. Widen the lower output chest into a double chest, then add a hopper directly underneath the second furnace, pointing into that storage.
2. Add a hopper behind the second furnace, pointing into its back. Extend the fuel chest into a double chest above the two rear hoppers.
3. Add a downward-pointing hopper above the second furnace. Extend the upper input chest into a double chest above the two top hoppers.

Refill the shared fuel and input chests and check both furnaces.

7. Make it feel like your world

Use Rob’s stone surround as inspiration, or choose blocks that match your base.

Rob explains that stairs above the upper chest let it open. He also reaches the rear fuel chest through the gap between the two front hoppers. Test your chest lids and access before calling the decoration finished.

Your family challenge: choose a color or style for the outside together. Keep the hopper connections unchanged, then show each other where the fuel, input, and finished items go.

Need a hand?